Our Designer and New Dad Pete Pascoe on Fatherhood

Meet Pate Pascoe, lover of tie-dye, surfer, new Dad and Children of the Tribe designer.

Together with wife Maria, Pete and their newborn baby boy Milo call the Byron hinterland home; they live in the hills with plenty of room for their border collie Gurf to run wild. When we decided to create our very first matching shorts for Dads and their sons, Pete jumped at the chance to drive the creative direction.

To celebrate fatherhood and hear more from Pete about this exciting new project, we took five to chat with him about the surprises and challenges of becoming a Dad, his dreams for Milo and what inspired the design of the ‘I Have a Hero, I Call Him Dad’ shorts.

What has surprised you most about becoming a Dad?

How natural it all is. Before Milo I had barely held a baby, so coming home with a newborn one day was a big surprise and fast learning curve for me. But it all seemed so natural and pretty easy going (so far), so I really am loving this thing they call being a dad! Another surprise I didn't see coming was how open I was to putting this little creature's priorities before mine. Before Milo it was all about me, me, me and sometimes my wife (haha), but now it's all about Milo, and I don't have any problems with that.

And what's been the most challenging part so far?

Juggling time. I have the privilege of being able to work from home, but it's so hard to work when Milo is in the next room. He's at the stage where he's learning something new every day and I don't wanna miss anything! Haha. There are not enough hours in the day and I've even had to sacrifice a few hours in the evening to sync up with Milo's sleep, although it's vital if he doesn't have a good sleep and I have to sit up and bounce him in the silly hours of the night.

Above all else, what is your one dream for Milo?

I would love for him to grow up happy, full of energy and to be free to reach his full potential.

What does a typical Sunday look like for you, your wife Maria and baby Milo?We all wake up (slowly) then find an uncrowded wave and meet up with some friends, surf our brains out and chill on the beach with the little ones in between. This keeps our dream team happy - mum, dad, baby and dog! All of a sudden it's time for a nap or to start cooking dinner already. Like I said before, there just aren't enough hours in the day. Especially on Sundays.

You been part of Children of the Tribe's design and creative direction for several years now but this is the first time you've ever been tasked with designing a style for the Dads! Can you share a little about your inspiration in creating the 'I Have a Hero, I Call Him Dad' shorts? I was stoked when I heard I could make something for me and Milo as well as all the other dads and groms out there. I wanted to keep it simple and relatable, but also put some personal touch in there. Being part aboriginal and a living a life that revolves around the ocean I came up with a design that resembles a Dreamtime fish scale pattern using aboriginal dot art, then rotated it vertically and it became something different. Different people see different things in the pattern (rainbows, fountains, pineapples), which is cool. And being from the Red Dust people of Western NSW, I chose to use earthy colours. The final product came out great and I hope everyone can relate to the design somehow.